Eating is one of the basic physiological needs. At birth, eating is instinctive; then it becomes reflexive and later learned behaviour. Taste perception begins in the first year and represents a critical period, meaning that learning occurs more easily during this time. In the case of eating, learning includes motor skills – the ability to swallow, bite and move food in different directions – and the acceptance of different tastes and textures. Therefore, introducing new foods is extremely important because the more diverse tastes are given at an early stage, the greater the likelihood that the child will accept new tastes. For most children, eating is a kind of sensory playground that, in addition to providing satiety, also offers the pleasure of exploring tastes, learning and interacting. Eating can be a real nightmare for many children with developmental disabilities and their parents, especially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For them it is common that most of them have associated sensory problems that can also make eating difficult.
The main characteristics of autism spectrum disorder are deficits, obstacles or disorders in social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive, stereotyped behaviours. This behaviour manifests as excessive preoccupation with areas of interest, routines and rituals, with repetitive movements and speech and as unusual responses to sensory stimuli. The most common feeding problems are problems with chewing and swallowing, food selectivity, food avoidance, eating uniformity and rituals and overeating. Parents often feel guilty when their child refuses food. They are given many pieces of advice that could be shortcuts, but in the long term can have a negative impact (e.g. crying, aggression, food rejection). One of the most effective interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder is the behavioural approach, also known as Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA). It focuses on behaviour and the influence of environmental factors and tries to identify the cause of the problematic behaviour, then based on that information develop a programme for behaviour change. As part of the functional assessment, it is also necessary to identify positive and negative reinforcements that shape the child's behaviour.
As part of the master's thesis, we conducted a case study that presented an in-depth description of the planning and implementation of an individual program for introducing new foods to the studied child with ASD, which was carried out for a month. We used a checklist - a list of reinforcers, a functional assessment of behaviour, a list of food repertoire and a scale with a Brief Autism Mealtime Behaviour Inventory (BAMBI). Based on the collected data, the behavioural approach and sensory gradualness, we planned and implemented the program. In 14 working days, we conducted 42 short meetings - three per day. During the program, we focused on introducing three foods: cheese, egg and banana. The purpose of the research was to increase the food repertoire in a six-year-old child with ASD, which we succeeded in. Halfway through the program (during Stage III: smelling), the child tried banana for the first time, then they also consumed the other two foods during the ingestion stage (Stage VI). After completing the program, their eating behaviour also improved according to the BAMBI scale (by 12.2%).
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